The fifth Hormonal and Neural Peptide Biosynthesis Gordon Research Conference will be held from July 21-26, 2002 in New London, NH. This conference has established itself as an important forum for discussing the rapidly moving field of processing enzymes and other proteases involved in endocrine and CNS homeostasis and disease. The principal focus of this interdisciplinary meeting is on the biochemistry and cell biology of bioactive peptide synthesis in endocrine and neuronal cells, and its scope incorporates molecular biological, biochemical, biophysical, and genetic approaches to understanding peptide function. The multiple interactions that come into play in cells that produce bioactive peptides are responsible for many regulatory processes in physiology and the etiology of diseases, including diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, and drug addiction. To address these issues, invited speakers will range from leading senior scientists to junior scientists with recent, exciting data, with spaces reserved for promising late developments. The conference will cover the genetics and physiology of hormonal and neural peptide synthesis and processing, the biochemistry and structural analysis of proprotein processing enzymes, the role of processing enzymes in human physiology and disease, structure and regulation in protein sorting and localization, Golgi structure and function, formation of stimulus-responsive compartments, targeting to secretory granules and synaptic vesicles, regulation of exocytosis, and new approaches to peptide diversity. Because of its interdisciplinary emphasis on endocrine and neuronal cell biochemistry and its integration of human physiology and disease, this conference is of potential interest to the mission of several institutes, including NIDDK, NINDS and NIDA. Molecular and cellular advances in the understanding of several aspects of proprotein processing, trafficking, and secretion relevant to endocrine and neural diseases will be a central feature of the conference, and dysfunction in proprotein processing, trafficking and secretion will be thoroughly addressed. The integration of protease systems that are required both for normal physiology and human disease will be relevant to our understanding of the molecular bases of diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and drug addiction.